News and Trends 22 Nov 2021 Investors Flock to Startups Reprogramming Cell Therapies Painstaking and expensive procedures are required to produce human cells for use in research and cell therapies. Investors are seeking stakes in cell reprogramming startups that can free up the bottleneck, such as Mogrify, bit.bio, and Asgard Therapeutics. The concept of cell reprogramming — converting one type of cell into another — has been hot […] November 22, 2021 - 7 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 18 Nov 2021 Sustainability in Focus as Two VCs Build Industrial Biotech Funds As this month’s COP26 United Nations climate summit highlighted the climate change emergency, venture capital fundraises from Sofinnova and the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund have led the push for industrial biotechnology to further shift the global economy away from fossil fuels. Yesterday, the venture capital (VC) firm Sofinnova Partners raised €150M for an early-stage environmental […] November 18, 2021 - 4 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Infographics by Merck 15 Nov 2021 Gene therapy: Making Rare Disease Therapies Less Rare While individually uncommon, rare diseases collectively impact the lives of over 300 million people worldwide. Many rare conditions are chronic, progressive, and life-threatening with limited treatment options available. Advances in gene therapy provide hope to actual cures and could revolutionize treatment prospects for patients with rare genetic diseases. This infographic shows how we can unlock […] November 15, 2021 - 2 minutesmins - By External Contributor Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 12 Nov 2021 Big Pharma Strikes Megadeals In Targeted Protein Degradation With many targeted protein degraders hitting the clinic, lucrative collaborations and acquisitions are being signed between biotech startups and big pharma in this upcoming area. Novartis, Pfizer, and Bayer have all negotiated billion Euro deals this year with smaller biotechs including Dunad Therapeutics, Arvinas, and Vividion Therapeutics. The big pharma companies aim to gain a […] November 12, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 10 Nov 2021 Evotec IPO Hints At Stabilizing Investor Interest In Biotech Stocks German life sciences heavyweight Evotec raised around €376M ($435M) in its US debut on the Nasdaq last week, fueling tentative hopes of renewed investor interest in biotech stocks after a rollercoaster year. The company downsized its initial IPO target of around €500M ($576M) by offering fewer shares than initially planned. This is widely seen as […] November 10, 2021 - 4 minutesmins - By Victor Kotsev Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Opinion 10 Nov 2021 Automation Can Solve Diversity Issues in Clinical Trial Recruitment How can we make clinical trial recruitment more reflective of the real world? Technology is coming to the rescue. The quest for diversity in clinical trials goes to the heart of patient care. Why are some demographic groups over-represented in studies when others are more difficult to recruit? Studies that fail to reflect patient demographics […] November 10, 2021 - 6 minutesmins - By External Contributor Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 8 Nov 2021 Blockchain Makes Biotech Supply Chains Traceable Blockchain technology can be used to reliably trace entire supply chains, preventing counterfeit drugs and foods from making their way to consumers. Supply chains are long, often spanning multiple continents, complex, and dotted with blind spots. These opaque gaps leave room for unethical agents to interfere with the supply chain. If you were running a […] November 8, 2021 - 6 minutesmins - By Sachin Rawat Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 4 Nov 2021 Skilled Labor Shortages Impact Cell And Gene Therapy Manufacturing Despite vast amounts of funding entering the cell and gene therapy field, the manufacture of these therapies is held back by skill shortages. Increasing training programs and automation could form the solution. The cell and gene therapy fields enjoyed their best-ever funding yield in the first half of 2021, with €12.2B ($14.1B) netted globally. However, […] November 4, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Anita Chakraverty Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 2 Nov 2021 The Top European Biotech Investment Rounds in October DNA manufacturing was a hot topic in biotech investments in October, with immuno-oncology and insect protein also drawing big investor excitement. After the huge biotech investment rounds that took place in September, October was a quieter month for private European and Israeli life sciences firms. Collectively, they raised €555.6M in 37 deals. This was less […] November 2, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Expert Advice 1 Nov 2021 “The Board of Directors Should Let the CEO Run the Company” The relationship between the board and the CEO can be essential to the success of a life sciences company. Drawing from his experience at both sides, Alan Levy shares his advice on how to make that relationship work. Once known as the person who introduced portable defibrillators on the market in the 1990s, Alan Levy […] November 1, 2021 - 5 minutesmins - By Victor Kotsev Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 28 Oct 2021 DNA Manufacturing Startups Net Venture Capital Windfalls Touchlight Genetics and DNA Script have closed major venture financing rounds in the last month as investor excitement mounts over the next generations of DNA manufacturing. DNA Script made a big splash in Paris this week as it raked in €142M in Series C funding. The company will ramp up the commercialization of its benchtop […] October 28, 2021 - 6 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Opinion 27 Oct 2021 The Lab of the Future: Automation Takes Over in a Post-Pandemic World Life sciences research often involves costly and complex procedures that take time away from experiment planning. Lab automation could speed up the process across a range of areas, including drug development, diagnostics, and synthetic biology. Speed has always been a critical but somewhat elusive goal in life sciences research. While technological advances have led to […] October 27, 2021 - 6 minutesmins - By External Contributor Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email